It’s the very first “Darth Maul” figure of the Episode I line. And he essentially didn’t exist when the product line launched. If you weren’t the first people in line for midnight madness back in 1999, it’s likely you had to make a return trek to your local toy store to find this figure. Darth Maul (Jedi Duel) eventually met demand (and rather quickly) because Hasbro ensured that he kept shipping and solid case assortments for this figure arrived as well. In all honesty, Darth Maul (Jedi Duel) became much more popular than he should have. While it’s an average sculpt with decent paint operations, the figure ends up being a little too stiff for displaying. And as an action figure that’s meant to replicate this character in incredibly versatile action, this figure doesn’t meet too many of those “physical” demands. As a display piece, Darth Maul (Jedi Duel) is fine, but if you want him to do anything in that display, well, you’re going to be wishing for more. Darth Maul (Jedi Duel) can hold a lightsaber, maybe swing it left and right, and that’s it!

Darth Maul is without a doubt the coolest character in The Phantom Menace, and it is no surprise that he is part of the first group of figures Hasbro has released in the Episode I line. As the new Sith Lord in the film, his role was to destroy the Jedi and make life a living hell for Queen Amidala. Ultimately, he fails in his mission, but fans were reluctant to let his memory go with his death. He immediately became a larger than life Star Wars character. We wonder why they held back on the figure’s articulation. After all, the Episode I line was meant to bring articulation and sculpting to the next level, yet Darth Maul (Jedi Duel) doesn’t come with any meaningful articulation or that much more than what the standard figures receive. Plus, the molded skirt inhibits any lower body movement. In short, Darth Maul (Jedi Duel) is an extremely frustrating action figure. We’re excited that Hasbro released a decent sculpt of him, but we’re very disappointed by his limitations. Let’s focus a little bit on the figure’s strengths.

You may not know, but there are variations with this figure’s facial tattoos and how they were applied. Some figures appeared to have a more pink color for the red portion. And the others had the correct and brighter red. There was also a significant variation also (to some collectors at least). Early samples of Darth Maul (Jedi Duel) came with a black vest but instantly disappeared from shelves. Hasbro quickly corrected the figure to add more gray detail in the vest. The gray vest is much more common than the black vest. Collectors, in general, were just happy to have this Darth Maul figure and didn’t care about the rarer variation. As a character that barely spoke in the film, Darth Maul (Jedi Duel) only came with two lines programmed into his corresponding CommTech chip. This pack-in premium never really took off, but because these devices have a foot peg installed in them, they made handy display stands. Darth Maul (Jedi Duel) gives everyone their first taste of Darth Maul, but it’s likely most of us will be wanting a version of him with more options. This one doesn’t cut it.